Why Are People Afraid To Lift Heavy Weights?

It was just another leg day in the dusty gym. I was walking around in-between heavy leg press sets when a fellow muscle constructor entered the scene. He had the gestures of a horny conqueror. The guy was built like a wooden horse and dressed as a fashionable muscle mannequin. He had branded colorful sneakers and a muscle shirt with long sleeves that instantly makes you look 2 times bigger. His overdone pyramid haircut was soul exposing – the guy was obviously one of those self-centered bastards who spend so much time in front of the mirror that even the mirror itself gets tired of reflecting their narcissistic faces.

To my surprise, Mr. FancyGymClothes decided to do something old school – barbell squats. He launched a song on his iPhone, cracked his neck and began warming-up with just the bar. He was definitely trying to get in the zone with the help of strong daydreaming demons channeling through the music hitting his ears.

After a few sets, the barbell got up to the remarkable 110 pounds. This is when the amazing happened. He put on a cushion pad to prevent the bar from digging into his neck. 3-5 minutes later, there were about 70kg on the bar. At that point, Mr. FancyGymClothes decided to add his second set of armor – a thick weightlifting belt. This was a sign that things were getting serious.

Yet the barbell did not upgrade beyond 70kg/154lbs throughout the duration of the whole workout. The experience got even more otherworldly when I saw that the squats were fake. Mr. FancyGymClothes was quarter squatting while checking out his sunken cheeks in the mirror as frequently as possible.

I laughed and said to myself – ”Damn. This guy should use a squat suit too. He may obliterate his joints otherwise.”

Thereupon another member of the gym got in, placed his 10-inch sperm color phablet on a bench and started doing joint rotations. The two men were apparently buddies and initiated a ”brah” chat.

”Sup”
“Sup”
”Legs today?”
”Yes. Squats.”
”Heavy?”
”Yeah, man.”
”Be careful, man. 70 kilos is a lot when you have a bad knee.”
”Yeah, man. Tell me about it. It’s been five years since the surgery, but it’s still giving me some pain.”
”You went to the disco last night?”
”Yeah, it was awesome. The music was on point, and there were many skirts if you know what I mean.”
”Word. Do you need a spot, man?”
”Yeah.”

Mr. FancyGymClothes got close to the bar and did a short but intense psyching routine. It looked like he was getting ready to fight a hungry bear.

He got under the bar and unracked it with vengeance. Ironically, the weight was so light for his size that it jumped a little. Then he proceeded with his insect style quarter squats. The other brah was right behind him, making sure that his buddy won’t break in half from the epic 70% BW partial squats. The symbiosis between the two brahs was perfection. They were operating like a well-tuned bio-machine. After the set, Mr. FancyGymClothes sat on the incline bench and said – ”Squats, man. Heavy squats! This is where it’s at!”

Stories like that often lead me to a classic inquiry – why are people afraid to lift heavy weights?

The primary reason would be the physical and mental pain produced by big iron. Heavy is a synonym for hard while light equals easy mode. As a result, everybody finds an excuse not to lift heavy weights. I partially understand that. There is no need to kill yourself just to prove a point. You can get stronger by lifting lighter barbells and doing more repetitions per set. However, pump training without a progression is way too fashionable in most gyms.

Besides this generic explanation, there is another one that is more important. Many people have a false perception of heavy and difficult. We are often convinced that something is harder than it actually is. Due to the incredible amount of disinformation and ear pleasing provided by the media, people have become misguided humanoids drowning in a sea of mediocrity and chore created by the elite.

When you don’t know the reality of things, light weights may seem like a building.

Maybe you’ve seen one of those famous cocksuckers also known as actors deadlift 2 plates, and you now think that’s really heavy. Similar examples create a mental barrier that may or may not be based on real facts.

Mr. FancyGymClothes was obviously brainwashed to believe that heavy squats make your knees explode. That’s why he was sticking to a weight below his actual ability. Yet his mind was convinced that he was working hard.

As you can probably guess, I blame the whole system for the global estrogen overdose. Regular people are constantly oppressed and forced to look down. You are never allowed to stand up tall. If you try, the system will hit you where it hurts the most. We have become obedient creatures who use the controlled newspapers, magazines and TV channels to form a false version of reality.

This mechanism has created many generations of humanoids who live according to concepts formed by somebody else. Our definition for crucial things in life has been given to us for the most part. Things like beauty, good music, style and even love are defined not by the individual but the system.

One of the most altered ideas is our perception of success. In this world, success is measured in money. The more money you have, the more successful you are according to modern standards. It does not matter that your music is complete garbage as long as it’s selling millions of copies.

In conclusion

The concept of heavy goes both ways. Some people are convinced that 70kg/154lbs squats are heavy, while others have been brainwashed by steroid freaks to believe that 250kg/550lbs squats are just around the corner with the right programming and nutritional plans. In the first situation, we have grown men using the cushion pad for 40kg/88lbs squats while at the other extreme there are fatsos jeopardizing their spine health just to satisfy the sick ambitions of a mentally ill fitness guru and his steroid based idea of what strong is. Both sides describe individuals who have been taken.